What a wonderful sight to see college baseball occurring all over our region. Several teams were in action today, and it was overall a very productive day for the locals. Still, we are not at full speed as Hofstra, St. John’s, Maritime and Nassau all had their games postponed due to COVID concerns. Here’s to hoping we will get a full slate of games at some point this year.
Here’s how the action went down:
Division-I:
Stony Brook is back to .500 at 7-7 after sweeping Albany in a DH by the scores of 9-3 and 14-6. In Game 1, Sam Turcotte got the start and he was outstanding. He went six innings, striking out 10, allowing just 1 ER on five hits. The Seawolves broke a scoreless tie in the third on a sac fly by John Tuccillo to score Derek Yalon. They extended the lead to 2-0 in the fifth on an RBI double by Shane Paradine. A bases loaded walk to Johnny Decker extended the lead to 3-0 and a dropped third strike allowed Paradine to score to make it 4-0. Albany played some sloppy defense and Evan Fox added a two-run double to break the game open in the sixth. Turcotte earned his second win of the season. Evan Giordano had three of Stony Brook’s six hits. The Great Danes committed four errors. Brad Malm (Pat-Med 2017) and Alex Ungar (Connetquot 2020) both had two hits for Albany.
In Game 2, the Seawolves got out to a 4-0 lead on a fielder’s choice off the bat of John Tuccillo, a two-run double by Derek Yalon and an RBI double by Evan Giordano. Albany battled back, though, with RBI hits by Malm, John Marti (Smithtown East 2016) and Jason Bottari (Plainedge 2018). They actually took a 6-4 lead later in the fifth inning but the game was far from over. An RBI single by John LaRocca and a bases loaded walk by Derek Yalon tied the game at 6-6. Chris Hamilton ripped a two-run single and the Seawolves never looked back as they won 14-6 to complete the double header sweep. Tuccillo drove in four runs, Yalon drove in three runs. Brian Morrisey got the win in relief for the Seawolves. They will close out their series tomorrow in Albany at 12.
Fordham swept Delaware by the scores of 15-2 and 8-1 to improve to 11-4 on the season. In Game 1, Matt Mikulski started and was dominant once again. The hard-throwing southpaw went 5.2 innings, striking out 12, allowing 1 ER on three hits and a walk. His offense made his life easy by staking him to an immediate 3-0 lead and adding runs in the second, third and fourth inning and breaking it open with 6 runs in the fifth. The pitching from Delaware was ugly as the allowed 13 hits, 8 walks and hit 5 batters. The Rams actually stranded 13 runners so it could’ve been worse. Casey Brown, Jack Harnisch and C.J. Vazquez all had two hits for the Rams.
In Game 2, Garrett Crowley started and earned the win, going four innings and striking out 5 and allowing 1 ER. Brooks Ey threw four shutout innings of relief. The game was tied 1-1 in the 5th when Nick Labella hit a two-run shot to give the Rams a 3-1 lead. They never looked back, and added some insurance runs. Labella drove in 3 runs, Alvin Melendez drove in two runs.
The Rams will look to stay hot on Wednesday when they host Seton Hall at 3pm.
LIU split a double header with Merrimack, losing the first game 6-2 but winning the second game 9-2. In the victory, they trailed 1-0 after two innings but tied it up on an RBI single by Anthony Warneke to score Brian O’Boyle. They took the lead on an RBI single by Seth Surrett to score Chris Wasson. They only had eight hits but took advantage of wild Merrimack pitchers and drew 11 walks. Giovanni Ciaccio and Anthony Warneke drove in two runs. Mike Lazos went five innings to record the win. Rob Griswold threw four hitless innings for the save.
They will be back in action on Tuesday against Sacred Heart.
Division-II:
Adelphi got back on track with a double header sweep of Southern Connecticut State by the scores of 19-11 and 6-2. Game 1 was wild, as they batted around and scored 8 runs in the second inning – including two HRs from Tyler Becker. They added 5 runs in the fifth inning including a grand slam by Matt Alifano. They led 19-5 in the 7th inning but SoCo put together a rally and wound up putting some runs on the board to make it appear close. Josh Rovner threw four innings in relief of Tom Ambrosino to record the win. Alifano drove in 7 runs in the game. Nick Gavilla and Tyler Becker each had 3 RBI.
Game 2 was much more tame. Becker picked up where he left off with an RBI single in the first inning to score Jack Ryan. A two-run shot by Andrew Eng gave SoCo a 2-1 lead off Nic Luc. In the fifth, Adelphi tied it up on an error and took the lead on an RBI single by Nick Lopez. They added two more runs on Tim Feliz‘s RBI hit and another on a fielder’s choice. Michael Storms threw 2.1 hitless innings of relief to earn the win.
The Panthers are now 4-5 and will be back in action on Friday against New Haven.
Molloy continued to own College of Staten Island. They swept the double header by the scores of 9-4 and 9-0. In Game 1, Joe Minucci got the start and was lights-out. He struck out 9 over six shutout innings allowing just three hits. His offense gave him four runs right off the bat in the first. Matt Overton drew a bases loaded walk for the first run, Tom Brady hit a two-run single and a passed ball scored Matt Overton to make it 4-0. Patrick Hoffman‘s RBI single in the third made it 5-0, Garrett Scavelli hit a sac fly to make it 6-0, Sean Hogan‘s single extended it to 7-0 and Chris Peralta‘s sac fly made it 8-0. A grand slam by Louie Mandile briefly put a dent in the lead but Billy Wildeman closed it out in the 9th to seal the deal. The Lions drew 10 walks in the game, and Peter Theodorellis and Garrett Scavelli had two hits.
In Game 2, Molloy got out to a 1-0 lead on a sac fly by Sean Hogan to score James Messina. That was all the support that Joseph Murphy (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 6 K) and Charlie Cucchiara (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K) would need. Molloy ripped 13 hits and drew 7 walks. Peter Theodorellis went 3-for-5, Matt Overton and James Messina each had two hits.
The Lions are now 6-5 and will look to stay hot as they make the short trip to Flushing on Thursday to face Queens College.
Queens swept a DH over Bridgeport by the scores of 4-2 and 2-2. In Game 1, Queens trailed 2-0 entering the sixth when Andrew Smith tied it up with a two-run single to center. Later that inning, Brad Sakellarides ripped an opposite field two-run double to give the Knights the 4-2 lead. Liam Pulsipher started and went five innings, allowing 1 ER on three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Johnnie Rodopoulos recorded the win in relief. Dylan Hughes notched the save with 2.1 shutout innings. Colin Diez and Corey Tingo had two hits each for Queens.
In Game 2, Rob Backus was outstanding. He struck out 10, allowing just one hit over six shutout innings. Danny Gargano worked around a hit in the seventh to notch the save. The runs scored on a two-run single by Evan Christopher in the bottom of the sixth.
The Knights are 3-2 and will host Molloy on Thursday.
Division-III
Farmingdale swept Purchase by the scores of 7-1 and 8-7. In Game 1, Stephen Clancy started and was terrific. He went five innings, allowing no runs on one hit with five strikeouts. In the bottom of the 1st, Jordan Lambert ripped a bases clearing double to open up a 3-0 lead. Aidan Hutchins added an RBI single in the second and Lambert hit a sac fly in the third to make it 5-0. Tommy Secaira ripped a two-run double in the 3rd to make it 7-0.
Game 2 was much more thrilling. Tied 7-7 in the bottom of the 10th, Jordan Lambert hit a sac fly to right field to score Aidan Hutchins. It was his second walk-off sac fly in as many weeks. Farmingdale led 7-5 in the 9th but Purchase tied it up on two RBI singles. Bobby Pollock, Tommy Secaira and Nolan White each had three hits for the Rams who improved to 5-1 on the season. Tyler Loft recorded the win on his birthday.
The Rams will travel to face Purchase in another double header tomorrow at 11 and 2.
Old Westbury and St. Joseph’s split a DH in Patchogue with the Panthers taking Game 1, 6-3, and the Golden Eagles taking Game 2, 7-2.
In Game 1, it was the Mike Manetta show. With SJC leading 2-1, he ripped a two-run single to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead. SJC tied it up on an error by the first baseman in the 7th. In extra innings, it was Manetta again who came through with a go-ahead two-run triple to right field. He wound up scoring on a balk to make it 6-3. Joe Sarni pitched 3 innings of relief to record the win. Tim Woodford was solid against his former team, going six innings and striking out 9. Anthony Cinquemani was tagged with the loss.
In Game 2, SJC tagged Brandon O’Brien with four runs in the first on an RBI single by Tyler Sanderson and a three-run shot by Anthony Raucci. OW got one back on an RBI single by Jamal Ritter, but SJC answered back with a two-run single by Mike Badala. Mike Manzolillo earned the win with three innings in relief.
The teams will play on Monday at 3pm.
USMMA swept SJC-Brooklyn by the scores of 8-1 and 12-8. In Game 1, LHP Joe Raab was outstanding. The captain went the distance, striking out 11 and allowing just one run on 8 hits and no walks. Joey Zanetti went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple and two-run HR. Jacob Kelly and Zach Coutts each had two hits.
In Game 2, SJC-Brooklyn led 5-1 in the fourth but USMMA began to chip away. They got RBI hits from Zach Coutts, Jack Millen, Joey Zanetti and Zac Scov to tie the game. A two-run single by Timmy Chase gave USMMA a 7-5 lead and they added two more to make it 9-5. They needed both, as SJC-Brooklyn clawed back with three runs in the sixth to make it 9-8 but that’s as close as they would get. Andrew Hunt was lights-out in relief as usual – striking out four over three hitless innings, allowing just one walk. Zanetti, Millen and Chase all had three hits, Scov and Coutts had two each.
They will be back in action on Monday to finish out their series.
Maritime‘s program is on pause so their weekend series against Mount St. Vincent’s was postponed.
JuCo:
Suffolk was swept by Monroe by the scores of 12-5 and 6-3. No box score is available for the game.
Nassau was scheduled to open up their season today against Orange CC but had to cancel due to a positive case.
